Knife question

This is a discussion on Knife question within the Defensive Knives & Other Weapons forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; I have a CWP and I have mounted in my vehicle a bowie knife (for just in case). I was wondering if it is covered ...

Learn to play the game, but know the rules.

Yup, looks like the same mish-mash as here in Wisconsin. They make everything illegal to catch people with the widest net possible, and the cite exemptions which are often ignored.

It is illegal to carry a switchblade in Wisconsin. I do so everyday. Oh, the police know about it. I sell switchblades to the police because I sought for, fought for and ultimately bought a license to do so.

You'll notice that these laws have disclaimers. Make sure you have your license, if applicable and a copy of the up-to-date statutes with you. Mine are in my supply case, and carried daily 24/7.

I can carry samples. I can carry at work. I can carry to and from work.

Hence, being an 'itinerant knife salesman,' I am always on my way to a client, leaving a client, or at work with a client.

I once walked, in the open with four boxes of switchblades, down the block to the house of a new neighbor, a local police officer. He had done some research (the debate continues in Wisconsin as to whether automatics are legal for all police, no police or just police with permission) and admitted that I can just about sleep with a switchblade and have it legal.

However, Spiderman once told me that with great power comes great responsibility.

I never flash the knife(s)--unless you might be an aggressor and snatch a glimpse of it at the last moment--nor do I carry junk, arm gang-bangers or aid people on how to evade just laws.

I sell to police, fire, EMS and soldiers. I once sold to the father of a soldier who made the knife a gift at a going away party--to Iraq.

Heck, you want to bust me for a 'straw purchase' to a concerned father. Go ahead. We'll be happy to tell the judge why I did it--and where the knife is now.

Basically, a good guideline is that if an officer thinks it's illegal, it's going to be illegal regardless of what the state law actually says. It's just like carrying a concealed handgun. If the officer in question says you're doing so illegally, guess what you are.

Fly under the radar and avoid anything that's just plain old asking for it. See to a knife nut like me, "Gravity Knife" has a clear meaning. I know what a gravity knife is, and it is not a switchblade nor is it a balisong. To an officer of the law without such interest in sharp things, they're all the same. Therefore since gravity knives are illegal, they are all illegal.

I own one balisong. It's a toy. I play with it because it's a good way to improve your manual dexterity. I'd never carry it however because the popular conception is that these things are illegal.

I appreciate fine products like Microtechs and some of the automatic Benchmades for instance, but owning one would simply not benefit me in any way. Imagine you come under investigation and they search your house and find it. The public perception is that owning such an article is a crime.

I try to make sure any knife I carry is $100 or less in case it gets confiscated, with the exception of my Hideaway, and I've had it long enough I've gotten my money's worth. I also avoid any knife described by the manufacturer as a Bowie knife, and I make darn sure to stick to single edges 5.5 inches or shorter for any knife I carry on my person. That keeps it to the letter of the law okay in my state. I've also shyed away from assisted openers, because the right manual knife is faster than any automatic anyway with a little practice. Something like the waved Endura I'm playing with right now passes muster because no one knows what a wave is or does.

That said I own kitchen knives which are illegal by the law of the land here, and in my truck I keep the company of an illegal Buck Special and an illegal machete. If the knife laws here were actually enforced, we couldn't even prepare food.

In this state, at least with the gun laws, if you were to get in legal trouble for carrying a gun and the officer was in the wrong, you're going to lose your gun but if you were in the right the law is clear. I know lots of people who have been in this situation. It's black and white. A night in the pokey and the loss of a gun is what you can expect until the DA realizes he's got nothing.

However the way the knife laws are written, it's deliberately worded such that it's not 100% clear, and enforcement is at the discretion of the officer. And that is what makes a question like this nigh impossible to answer.

Imagine you come under investigation and they search your house and find it. The public perception is that owning such an article is a crime.

Wow, Euc, that's a new level of paranoia! Lots of people own Italian stilettos. Most are used as letter-openers and conversation pieces. I own a few of them myself.

Have you got any Playboy magazines, Vaseline Petroleum Jelly and few boxes of Puff Tissues?

You had better toss them out with the automatic knife.

"In a daring mid-morning raid, a well-respected mathematics professor was found with numerous sexual devices and at least one deadly illegal weapon. A suspected accomplice, known only as Geraldine, was also found at his residence. She remains silent, but the air is going out of her alibi."

Better toss in the playing cards, dice and poker chips. We can only guess how people will interpret that. Oh, and burn the hard-drive where my e-mails are sent. Correspondence from a biker with an arrest record for weapons charges cannot look good for your case at all.

Two words: Richard Jewell. Imagine if they'd found such an article in his domain.

Tourist's observations however do point out the sheer absurdity of most "laws" regarding knives. I honestly do believe people would overlook all that other stuff, but would freak out over a switchblade even though there's no apparent reason to.

It's bizarre to me to think that my firearms are all 100% completely legal to the letter of the law, but many of my knives are not.

In my old neighborhood of Villard Avenue in Milwaukee, the oddball would be the guy who didn't own a stiletto. I had a chance to buy the exact knife I graduated with in high school, and I snapped it up without a care.

Now, if Betty took some continuing adult education classes at Vassar, and she attached her tassle to her mortar-board using one of my stilettos, my guess is that both she and Abigail Beecher would be into trouble with the PTA.

In Sun Prairie, the cops laugh and are surprised the things are still made.

Merry Old England

In England the only blade you can legally carry is a folding pocket knife with a blade of less than 3 inches.
If the knife has any sort of locking mechanism then it is not legal to carry.
You can't carry even a fixed blade knife unless you have a good excuse for carrying it.
A good example would be you're a chef on the way home from work and even then the knife had better look like a Chefs Knife.
Balisong & Switchblade knives are illegal to buy, have, rent, sell, or own.

Gotta agree with Euc's last post....knife laws are in general really ridiculous. Texas allows a fixed blade of no more than 5 1/2 inches (my TOPS Black Star meets this requirement). But, it is illegal to have a "Bowie"....now, let's see here.....suppose I have a "Bowie" that has a blade of 5 1/2"....according to our "law" it would be illegal! go figure!

"Excuse me, Mr. James Bowie, would you mind stepping down from the wall for a moment? Yes, I'm aware it's a church. Yes, I'm aware you're surrounded by hostile Mexican nationals. I'm from the Department of Public Safety stationed here in San Antonio, and we'd like to measure that Toothpick of yours. Yes, Mr. Bowie, we know that you're fighting for freedom, and we appreciate that, but I don't make the laws here in Texas..."

I have knife with a 7" blade, hollow handle and a little nifty compass in the cap. I would call this knife a "Rambo Knife". VA law makes no mention of blade length and only covers dirks, bowies, num chucks (don't even know how to spell num chucks) etc....

So I would assume "Rambo" knives are legal.........well maybe not

I bet most of the law makers in this country don't even know what a Dirk is. I think all the knife laws in this country were writen back in the 1800's.

Last edited by MechE; June 16th, 2005 at 03:23 PM.
Reason: Just another thought.

I have knife with a 7" blade, hollow handle and a little nifty compass in the cap. I would call this knife a "Rambo Knife". VA law makes no mention of blade length and only covers dirks, bowies, num chucks (don't even know how to spell num chucks) etc....

So I would assume "Rambo" knives are legal.........well maybe not

I bet most of the law makers in this country don't even know what a Dirk is. I think all the knife laws in this country were writen back in the 1800's.

Just be sure to carry a receipt or tag that says "Rambo" not "Bowie" !